Ball retriever attachment

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a cup-like device having drain openings therein which is made as a unitary structure by injection molding of a flexible elastic plastic such as lowdensity polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or the like. The cup may readily be secured to, or removed from, a golf club head without the use of tools and when so secured may be used to retrieve golf balls from relatively inaccessible locations or to pick up golf balls after a practice session. Attachment and removal of the cup from the golf club is accomplished by insertion or removal of the club shaft by deflecting a flexible portion of a clip member integral with the cup and then moving the clip and cup along the shaft into engagement with or detachment from the golf club head.

United States Patent 1 Prochnow July 31, 1973 [54] BALL RETRIEVERATTACHMENT 2,523,942 9/1950 Ciambriello 294/19 A [76] gff z' z f zggg98th Primary Examiner-Richard c. Pinkham g Assistant Examiner-Richard J.Apley [22] Filed: Apr. 12, 1971 Attorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross 8;Simpson [21] Appl. No.: 133,182 [57] ABSTRACT This invention relates toa cup-like device having drain [521 273/162 294/19 273mm 4 openingstherein which is made as a unitary structure [51] Ill!- Cl. A63b 57/00by injection mowing of a flexible elastic plastic such as [58] Fltld 01Search 273/32 F, 162 E; lowdensity polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride(PVC), or

294/19 19 A the like. The cup may readily be secured to, or removedfrom, a golf club head without the use of tools [56] Reference Cited andwhen so secured may be used to retrieve golf balls UNITED STATES PATENTSfrom relatively inaccessible locations or to pick up golf 2,432,90612/1947 Klingler 294/19 A ls aft a prac ce session- Attachment andremoval 3,058,767 10/1962 Baken; 294/19 A of the cup from the golf clubis accomplished by inser- 1315 7/1951 Oberg 29 19 A tion or removal ofthe club shaft by deflecting a flexible 3,2l0,l l l lO/l965 Fallon m.273/l62 E X portion ofa member integral the cup and then a g -z movingthe clip and cup along the shaft into engagec ermo l,674,294 6/1928ORourke 273/162 12 x mm detachmem mm club head 2,448,644 9/ I948Williams 294/19 A 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BALL RETRIEVER ATTACHMENTBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The desirability ofproviding a cup-like retriever with an elongated handle for retrievinggolf balls has long been recognized. Such devices are particularlyuseful for retrieving golf balls from water hazards, areas of groundunder repair, muddy areas, and other places difficult of access. Theyare also useful in picking up previously hit balls from a practice area.

While such devices previously have been provided for attachment to golfclub heads, some have been objectionable in that they require operationof a thumb nut for attachment to the club head and such attaching meansfrequently loosen in use. In those integral retrievers previouslyprovided, the cups have been inadequate for the required purpose or theattachment to the club has been insecure.

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art byproviding a drainablc cup of ample size molded of an elastic plasticwhich has an integral clip member formed therewith that may be engagedbetween the angle between the hosel of the club and the inner end of theclub head and an outer portion of the club head where it and the clipassociated therewith are firmly held in position for use.

The retriever is attached to the club by insertion of a club shaft at apoint above the hosel through a slot in the side of the clip, theelastic clip material being distorted during such insertion to permitthe shaft to enter the clip and then returning to its original positionto retain the shaft within the clip. The clip and its associated cup arethen pushed downwardly over the hosel and outwardly until the clipcompletely engages the club head between a portion inwardly of the outerend of said club head and the curved portion where the head joins thehosel. In such position, the clip, which is formed to fit the club head,is held firmly in place on the head and the cup formed therewith firmlyheld in position for use. Due to the clip being held between the angleat the juncture of the hosel and the club head and the outer end of theclub head, which increases in size outwardly from such angle,dislodgment of the retriever in normal use is prevented. At the sametime, the retriever may be detached from the club by a reversal of theprocedure above described. In removal, the clip is forced outwardly andupwardly over the angle up over the hoseland around the shaft where itmay be removed by depressing the side of the clip at the slot and movingthe shaft through the opening thus provided, after which the elasticmaterial of the clip causes the depressed side portion thereof to returnto its original position. Since the clip and cup are formed of flexibleelastic material they may be compressed for storage in the golf bag orpractice ball bag, as desired.

It is an important object, therefore, of the present invention toprovide a golf ball retriever which readily may be attached to, ordetached from, a golf club without the use of tools, which isinexpensive to construct, and which remains in firm association with thegolf club to which it is attached for use. 7

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSAs shown on the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates the shaftof a golf club to which is connected a hosel 2 that, in turn, carries ahead or blade 3. Due to the construction of the so-called golf iron theangle of juncture between the hosel 2 and the blade 3 provides aprotuberance generally at 3a. The retriever of this invention isdesigned for use with so-called long irons" such as No. 1, No. 2 or No.3 and since except for loft these irons have blades or heads 3 ofsubstantially the same shape the attachment of the retriever thereto maybe effectively and interchangeably accomplished with any of these clubs.This selection of the socalled long irons" is in part due to thissimilarity of the head shape and also due to the fact that such longirons" have longer handles and thus increase the distance at which theretriever may be operated.

The retriever attachment of this invention consists of a unitarystructure which is injection molded of a flexible elastic plastic suchas low-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or similarplastics which are well known in the art and which are capable of beingmolded but which when molded are relatively flexible and elastic.

The retriever cup of this invention is designated generally by thereference numeral 4. Drainage from the cup is provided by a plurality ofslots 5 and also by an aperture at the bottom of the cup (not shown)which is of relatively large diameter but of a diameter smaller than thelargest cross-sectional area of a golf ball to be retrieved.

Formed integrally with the cup 4 is a" member 6 which I havedesignated-generally as a clip member. This clip member 6 is providedwith top and side walls and the juncture thereof with the cup provides abottom wall, so that the clip in effect provides an open end enclosure,the area of which increases toward its open end so that it may interfitwith the blade or head 3 of the golf club. One side of the clip isprovided with a slot 7 which permits of the wall of the clip to bedepressed above the slot by pressing thereon at a point 7a. Thisdepression of the side wall as shown in dottcd lines in FIG. 4 permitsof insertion of the shaft 1 within the confines of the clip, after whichthe depressed portion snaps back into the position shown in full linesin FIG;

4 so that the clip encloses the shaft and prevents the retriever beinglost in the event of improper attachment thereof to the club head.

In installing the retriever for use, the clip 6 is first depressed topermit insertion of the shaft 1 as shown in FIG. 4, at which time theparts are generally in the position shown in FIG. 3. Thereafter, theclip and its integral retriever cup 4 are moved downwardly along theshaft, over the hosel 2 and into the position shown in FIG. 1. Theangularity of the clip 6 permits the same to fit against the flare ofthe club head or blade 3 and the clip is then held firmly between itsouter end which is in engagement with the club head or blade 3 and theprotuberance at the angle 3a above described. Due to the flexibility andelasticity of the material from which the clip is molded, the same inthe position shown in FIG. 1 provides a tight fit with the club head orblade 3 so that it is difficult to dislodge the retriever in use.

To remove the retriever from the golf club a reversal of the procedureabove described is followed. The clip is forced outwardly and upwardlyover the angle protuberance 3a and the hosel 2 until it again encirclesthe shaft as shown in FIG. 3. At this point the top portion of the clip6 above the slot 7 is depressed by pressing on the clip approximately atthe area shown at 7a so that the clip again assumes the dotted lineposition shown in FIG. 4, the shaft may be moved out of the clip, andthe retriever is stored for subsequent use. Due to its flexibility andelasticity, the retriever may be readily compressed for packing withinthe pocket of a golf club bag or other container such as a golf ball bagused by the golfer.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description, this inventionprovides a convenient retriever device which may be carried in a golfclub bag, ball bag, or the like andreadily installed on a long iron foruse when it is desired to retrieve a golf ball from an inaccessiblearea, such as a waterhazard, ground under repair, muddy water, poisonivy, thick vegetation, bushes and thorny thickets where the golfereither cannot reach the ball or would be injured or poisoned in sodoing.

The retriever of this invention is inexpensive, cannot become lost evenif improperly installed, is provided with ample drain area for thedraining of water therefrom, and convenient to use in the picking up ofgolf balls under the foregoing circumstances or after a practicesession, eliminating the necessity of the laborious effort of bendingover to pick up the balls.

I am aware that details of construction may be varied and I, therefore,do not purpose limiting the patent hereon granted other than asindicated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. in combination, a golf ball retriever and a golf club having a shaft,a head on the free end portion of said shaft having a hosel fittingabout the free end portion of said shaft, and a tapered metal bladeextending from said hosel with a front striking face and a rear face,having a sole adapted to lie parallel to the ground, a top surfacetapering outwardly with respect to the sole as it extends from thehosel, and a blade tapering to converge from the sole to the top surfacethereof,

a foldable plastic cup molded of flexible plastic material having a flatbottom of the general diameter of a golf ball and an annular side walltapering upwardly from said bottom and terminating into an opening of asize to accommodate the ready scooping of a golf ball from water and thelike,

said side wall having a plurality of slots extending therealong for thedrainage of water from the cup, and having an integral clip extendingradially outwardly of said side wall at the angle of taper thereof,

said clip being inthe form of an open loop having a bottom surfaceextending along the outside of said side wall and having generally planesurfaces converging relative to said bottom surface from opposite sidesof said bottom surface as they extend outwardly therefrom and having arounded outer end portion tapering outwardly from the upper end of saidclip to the lower end thereof to correspondingly mate with said topsurface of the blade of the golf club, and with said bottom surfaceengaging said sole of the club head, said open loop being formed by oneof said converging plane surfaces, said one converging plane surfacehaving a top flange portion extending from said rounded outer endportion, a slot extending along its entire surface, and a bottominturned flange portion extending from said bottom surface, wherein saidtop and bottom flange portions engage one of said faces of said blade,

said inturned portion forming a face adapted to be engaged by the shaftof a golf club and accommodating said clip to be depressed by pressingagainst the shaft of a golf club and fit said clip over the shaft to beslidably moved along said shaft and hosel to fit along the blade of thegolf club and support said cup to be positively retained to depend fromthe blade of the golf club in relatively rigid relation with respectthereto by the form of said clip and the elasticity of the material fromwhich said cup is made, to position said cup to scoop upa ball bymovement of the club head with the hosel-leading the blade of the clubhead, the foldability of said cup enabling said cup to be readilycarried in the pocket of a golf bag,

2. The golf ball retriever of claim 1, wherein the plastic material is alow density polyethylene of sufficient elasticity and flexibility tosnap into firm engagement with the blade of the club head and stillenable the retriever to be folded to a compact size.

i I i i i

1. In combination, a golf ball retriever and a golf club having a shaft,a head on the free end portion of said shaft having a hosel fittingabout the free end portion of said shaft, and a tapered metal bladeextending from said hosel with a front striking face and a rear face,having a sole adapted to lie parallel to the ground, a top surfacetapering outwardly with respect to the sole as it extends from thehosel, and a blade tapering to converge from the sole to the top surfacethereof, a foldable plastic cup molded of flexible plastic materialhaving a flat bottom of the general diameter of a golf ball and anannular side wall tapering upwardly from said bottom and terminatinginto an opening of a size to accommodate the ready scooping of a golfball from water and the like, said side wall having a plurality of slotsextending therealong for the drainage of water from the cup, and havingan integral clip extending radially outwardly of said side wall at theangle of taper thereof, said clip being in the form of an open loophaving a bottom surface extending along the outside of said side walland having generally plane surfaces converging relative to said bottomsurface from opposite sides of said bottom surface as they extendoutwardly therefrom and having a rounded outer end portion taperingoutwardly from the upper end of said clip to the lower end thereof tocorrespondingly mate with said top surface of the blade of the golfclub, and with said bottom surface engaging said sole of the club head,said open loop being formed by one of said converging plane surfaces,said one converging plane surface having a top flange portion extendingfrom said rounded outer end portion, a slot extending along its entiresurface, and a bottom inturned flange portion extending from said bottomsurface, wherein said top and bottom flange portions engage one of saidfaces of said blade, said inturned portion forming a face adapted to beengaged by the shaft of a golf club and accommodating said clip to bedepressed by pressing against the shaft of a golf club and fit said clipover the shaft to be slidably moved along said shaft and hosel to fitalong the blade of the golf club and support said cup to be positivelyretained to depend from the blade of the golf club in relatively rigidrelation with respect thereto by the form of said clip and theelasticity of the material from which said cup is made, to position saidcup to scoop up a ball by movement of the club head with the hoselleading the blade of the club head, the foldability of said cup enablingsaid cup to be readily carried in the pocket of a golf bag.
 2. The golfball retriever of claim 1, wherein the plastic material is a low densitypolyethylene of sufficient elasticity and flexibility to snap into firmengagement with the blade of the club head and still enable theretriever to be folded to a compact size.